Fox Valley Kia (Kyle Wilfong) shows her winning form in last year’s $185,000 Incredible Tillie two-year-old championship at Hawthorne. (Four Footed Foto)

By Mike Paradise for the IHHA

Good things can eventually come to those who persevere though some rough times. You need not look any further than Julie Collins, the proud owner of last season’s champion Illinois bred two-year-old filly pacer Fox Valley Kia, as a spot-on example.

Growing up as a teenager in Highland, Indiana, about 20 miles from Balmoral Park, Julie would go with her dad to the far south Chicagoland racetrack to watch the horse’s race. As the years went by her love for horses only grew and her hope one day was to have her own horse.

However, as the years rolled by it appeared her fondest wish wasn’t meant to be.

Julie got married, raised four children as a single parent (one who overcame Leukemia), and she became a nurse, and not just any nurse but a traveling Covid nurse through the peak pandemic years.

Julie was in New Orleans when the pandemic was at its deadliest height there. Also, she made work stops in other states at the pinnacle of the lethal virus, sometimes wondering if she would ever come back home. All the while her “horse owning dream” was still in the back of her mind.

When the pandemic finally eased, Julie returned home and got reacquainted with Illinois horseman Phil Knox, who she dated a few years earlier.

Julie felt she earned enough money to give horse ownership a shot and her boyfriend, and trainer Phil, picked out two yearlings at the 2021 horse sales, each for $7,500—Buck Art, a Pennsylvania bred colt, at the Blood Horse Sale in Ohio, and a week later the same amount at the Walker Standardbred Sale in Sherman, Illinois for the filly Fox Valley Kia.

Buck Art did okay, making almost $12,000 as a freshman while on the other hand Julie hit the jackpot with filly Fox Valley Kia who raked-in $131,052 in her first 13 trips to the gate and came away with the richest prize of her division on Hawthorne’s Night of Champions with a victory in the $185,000 Incredible Tillie final.

“It was thrilling to watch her win the championship,” said Julie. “It was also a little terrifying. I worried about the filly, about Phil, and what would happen in the race.” And she realized there’s “so much money at stake.”

An admitted novice of our sport as a new horse owner, Julie has taken a year’s sabbatical from nursing and has been helping Phil with the horses (she bought two more yearlings last fall. Julie acknowledges she has a ferocious appetite to read “everything she can about harness racing.”

Being a horse owner also gave Julie a fresh perspective of the Standardbred industry. “I never knew there were so many wonderful people that were there for a newcomer like me,” said Julie. “When I became a horse owner all my friends were nurses. Now I also have lots of great horse friends.”

“Tom and Benita Simmons have been especially great,” said Phil. “They’ve helped us so much, always there if we needed something.”

Fox Valley Kia’s road to her first season success didn’t start out auspiciously. The filly was disqualified from second to fourth debuting at the Carrollton Fair with Knox. She did win a modest $1,428 pot in her second outing, and was third best the next time out, both at Springfield.

Fox Valley Kia’s first pari-mutuel start came at Hawthorne in late July where she managed a $600 check for Julie with a fifth-place finish. A week later the freshman pacer won at the Urbana fair. The filly started to show she had untapped ability when she prevailed in the Hawthorne $12,000 summer Incredible Tillie Consolation.

Another win at Mt. Sterling had the Somestarsomewhere filly primed for the Illinois State Fair at Springfield where Scott Nance took over as the listed trainer when Knox was serving a suspension by California stewards for a non-serious infraction.

It was at Springfield where “Kia” showed she was indeed a major force in her division. The filly won her Illinois State Colt Fair stake elimination and made it six straight triumphs with a season best 1:51.2 mile in the $30,000 final, both with Cordarius Stewart in the sulky.

A strong second place effort followed in the $50,000 Lt. Governor stake at the Du Quoin State Fair had her ready for a shot at Hawthorne’s $185,000 Night of Champions Incredible Tillie. The talented filly advanced to the championship with a second-place finish in her elimination, this time with Kyle Wilfong at her lines. Kyle took her right to the front in the championship where she led at every pole with a 1:51.4 clocking to the delight of Julie and Phil.

Fox Valley Kia’s first outing as a three-year-old will come on June 7th in the Downstate Classic at Decatur. A week later she’ll race in the three-year-old Violet pace at Springfield.

 Illinois Champ About Ready: Three-time Illinois Harness Horse of the Year Fox Valley Gemini is qualifying today at the Fair Grounds in Springfield for his initial pari-mutuel start as an eight-year-old. The Terry Leonard trained pacer has 53 career wins and earnings just under $697,000 for Atwater, Illinois owner Jim Ballinger.